Opinion page editor Rick Holmes and other writers blog about national politics and issues. Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of policy, news and opinion. This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion
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Opinion page editor Rick Holmes and other writers blog about national politics and issues. Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of policy, news and opinion. This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion section of the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Mass. As such, our focus starts there and spreads to include Massachusetts, the nation and the world. Since successful blogs create communities of readers and writers, we hope the \x34& Co.\x34 will also come to include you.

I got home from Tennessee just in time to watch the group hug at Fenway Park yesterday. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, or in my house.

I don’t claim to understand all the theories of terrorism. In the post below, Rob mentions yet another book I haven’t read and, as is typical, cites it as an authority for his rant without explaining what it says. I understand terrorism can be a provocative act, intended to spur an over-reaction by authorities that can then turn the people against the government. There’s a theory that Osama bin Laden hoped the 9/11 attacks would provoke the U.S. to invade Muslim countries, which would then drive Muslims into his camp. He succeeded in getting his wars, but I don’t see a lot of evidence that terrorist acts have won over the hearts and minds of most of the world’s Muslims.

I don’t know what theory, if any, drove the brothers Tsarnaev. But if their act was meant to earn global sympathy for their cause, they picked the wrong target. The Boston Marathon is anything but a symbol of American imperialism. It is open to the world, and the world usually wins. It’s a competition for a few, but a celebration of humanity for all the spectators and most of the participants.

If they intended to divide Americans, they did just the opposite. I watched the events unfold from a small town in a very red state. The local paper interviewed no fewer than three local residents who had run the marathon and been close to the explosions. In Knoxville, marathon enthusiasts held a candlelight vigil for the victims. I heard nothing but sympathy and support for Boston.

If they intended to spark an overreaction that turned people against their government, they got that wrong, too. From beginning to end, from the citizens who ran into the smoke to help the victims, to the thousands of people who sent pictures and video that might identify the killers, to the cheers that greeted the police in Watertown – and Fenway, and everywhere else – the police and the people were on the same team. Maybe shutting down Boston on Friday was unnecessary in retrospect, but everyone knew the point was to catch the terrorists, not to oppress the citizenry, and the level of cooperation was extraordinary.

We’ll see how things unfold, but I expect there will be no over-reaction: no new Patriot Act, no new invasion of another Islamic country. (Though I can imagine if Rumsfeld were still wandering the halls of the White House, he’d be demanding the Tsarnaevs be linked to Iran, because there are no good targets in Chechnya.)

Boston has found a new strength and unity through this trauma. The performance and cooperation of state, local and federal governments has been impressive. Nobody sent a drone to take out the boat Dzhokhar was hiding in. Everyone wanted him alive to be put on trial. The Miranda business is silly: Dzhokhar knows he’s under arrest (he’s handcuffed to his bed, which kind of gives it away) and knows he can get a lawyer.

My guess is Tamarlan was a loser who had no grand political plan. He figured he’d be rewarded in heaven for killing innocents in the U.S., and he got his little brother to go along. They accomplished nothing for their cause and won no battles. Boston and America won this one.